ST. PETE | Ibis Walk | 4 stories(?) | 410 units | 150,000 office | 77,000 retail | Under Construction

[TampaGuy]

Ibis Walk LLC is a 21.5-acre, mixed-use project, being developed at the former Celotex site, at 10301 M.L.K. St. N. There will be 150,000 square feet of office, 410 apartments, 13,000 square feet of restaurants, 24,400 square feet of retail space, a 12,000-square-foot pharmacy with a drive-thru, and three parking structures. The cost of the project is estimated at $75 million.

From Architect website: http://www.forumarchitecture.com/#Architecture

[TampaGuy]

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/...14/story2.html

ST. PETERSBURG — A miracle on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North is unfolding.
Heavy equipment crawls across 21 acres on the east side of the road in the Gateway district, preparing the site for a mixed-use, $75 million project called Ibis Walk.
As the faltering economy stymies numerous planned commercial and residential projects, Ibis Walk is one of the few developments actually breaking ground in the city.
“Amazing, huh,” said R. Don Mastry, a longtime land use lawyer at Trenam Kemker who has escorted many developers’ projects through government and regulatory approval processes.
“I think a lot of projects would go if they could get financing. The big hang-up most of the time is financing.”
Mastry represented the project’s developers during city review, but knew no details about Ibis Walk’s financing.
The project’s initial developer was Celotex-Pridgen LLP. The name was changed in May to Ibis Walk LLLP with Celotex Research LLC and Grady Pridgen Inc., both in St. Petersburg, listed in state records as general partners.
Neither George Wood, president of Celotex Research, nor Grady Pridgen, one of the city’s prominent developers, responded to repeated requests to discuss the project, which has been planned since 2004.
Pridgen has been very active in the past in development of commercial property in Gateway. He has been a proponent of creating work, live and shop communities there.
The Celotex Corp. owns and once occupied the Ibis Walk site in a triangular-shaped area generally bound on the west by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Roosevelt Boulevard on the east and Gandy Boulevard to the south.
A development plan and agreement submitted to the city and amended in June to allow more residential units shows Ibis Walk will include 410 multifamily units, 77,000 square feet of retail space and 150,000 square feet of office space. The amendment boosted the number of residential units from 350 to 410.
A conceptual plan of the project by Forum Architecture & Interior Design Inc., based in Altamonte Springs, shows apartment units in the middle of the parcel with retail and office space on the west side and retail on the east.
Ibis Walk, as planned, is designed to fit into the Gateway lifestyle.
“The Gateway area is an activity center,” said Rick MacAuley, manager of the urban planning, design and historic preservation division for the city. “It has a type of attraction and intensity not found in other parts of St. Petersburg.”
“Ibis Walk has a nice mix of uses for the area. Grady Pridgen has his fingerprints all over the city with great sites, great design and great landscaping.”
The city was firm in its desire for the project to be mixed use and built that into the development agreement, MacAuley said. At the time, the city was concerned that the residential phase of the project would be developed first and commercial would not follow.
A trigger was built into the project’s development agreement so that if 100 residential units became ready for certificates of occupancy, the developer would be required to submit construction drawings for 25,000 square feet of commercial space.
“Now the market may be dictating that they do commercial first,” MacAuley said.
Although site plan improvements are under way for Ibis Walk, applications for permits for townhouses have been submitted but not yet approved, said Corey Malyszka, St. Petersburg’s deputy zoning official. It is unclear whether the project’s first phase will be commercial or residential, he said.
Scott Ferris, VP of construction for Pridgen, was noncommittal about Ibis Walk.
Ferris said no decision has been made about the order of construction or when it will start. “Like everything else in this world right now, it’s up in the air.”

[Jahi98]

Now might be a good time to start building apartments to come online in 2011 when the job market is forecast to be expanding again, and being 4 stories will make it unique. At any rate, the commercial could actually do well, as there's not a whole lot of retail to serve the office and residential in that area.

There's another complex under construction and getting close to completion further east on Gandy called Turtoga Pointe (sp) that also has some commercial space, but is mainly apartments.

[TampaGuy]

Originally Posted by Jahi98

Now might be a good time to start building apartments to come online in 2011 when the job market is forecast to be expanding again, and being 4 stories will make it unique. At any rate, the commercial could actually do well, as there's not a whole lot of retail to serve the office and residential in that area.

There's another complex under construction and getting close to completion further east on Gandy called Turtoga Pointe (sp) that also has some commercial space, but is mainly apartments.

Yeah, it does make it unique. Most of St.Petes apartments are older and 3 stories or less.

I have noticed that the newer apartment complexes are beginning to become more 'urban styled' like less green space and more compact. Tortuga Pointe and Ibis Walk both show somewhat urban designs (imo?).

[I-275westcoastfl]

It's about time new urbanism projects start popping up around here.

[Jasonhouse]

Wow, this project was certainly scaled down from its original plans.

[TampaGuy]

I found some new images of the site, it looks like they are going to do the retail part of the project first. There are already signs on the road saying coming soon for retail.

They've also redesigned the retail part and now only plan 55,000 sqft of it.

Note that the residential parts are across the bridge


From http://dixlathrop.com/projects/ibis_walk/

Ibis Walk is a mixed-use community within the Gateway district of St. Petersburg, Florida. Situated on 21.9 acres, it is comprised of 411 residential units and over 55,000 square feet of retail space. The overriding design preface for the landscape and hardscape is sustainability. Working closely with the Florida Green Building Coalition Standards, and maintaining an emphasis on Florida friendly and native plant palette, the common areas have been designed to recreate natural plant communities similar to those previously existing on the site as well as being sensitive to water consumption. As part of that effort, great care has been taken to preserve existing trees and relocate many mature Live Oaks on the site.

The Residences feature 6 courtyards along with a pool courtyard as the focal element. Each courtyard has its own character through the use of native plant habitats and hardscape design while blending with the existing overall sense of the native Florida vernacular. The courtyards offer quiet nooks as well as active gathering spaces for those living in the community.

The retail district features an expansive deck wrapping the banks of an existing tranquil pond. Arbor-shaded walks and sidewalk cafés enliven the main street lined with native Sabal palms and accented with Oaks.

Also, there is now a website for the project: http://www.ibiswalk.com/

[TampaGuy]

They've started work on the retail units on the eastern part of the property. I'm not sure if they're the same as the renders above, but hopefully they turn out decent.

[cdavis045]

I'm sure yall are aware, but it appears the residential phase of this project is moving. they've tarped off the area and are prepping the ground for foundation work

[Jasonhouse]

I drive by this site most times when I go to St Pete to see my daughter.

[TampaGuy]

There are so many apartment developments in this area. There are at least 2 others currently under construction and a few more in development. Does this property have a name yet?

[smiley]

Project, thy name is sprawl.

[Jahi98]

Lol @ Smiley

Not exactly sprawl - could've been a lot less intense of a use. It is good to see apartments built in Pinellas again, although I am somewhat amazed at the number of them under construction.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by Jahi98

Not exactly sprawl - could've been a lot less intense of a use.

Not really. Make the development significantly more sparse than it already is, and the per unit site development costs would inflate rental rates enough that they may not be cost competitive. Plus, tax revenues would be reduced, which Pinellas can ill afford.

And the very last thing any Pinellas resident should be cheering for is reduced redevelopment density. Such people might as well scream, "please raise my taxes!"